George l



G, L. SHEPARD SHOE.

(No Model.)

No. 449,389. Patented Mar. 31, 1891.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GEORGE L. SHEPARD, OF NORTH ADAMS, MASSACHUSETTS.

SHOE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 449,389, dated March 31, 1891.

Application filed August 5, 1890.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE L. SHEPARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at North Adams, county of Berkshire, and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoes, &c., of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in shoes (or boots) of the class having crimped backs or back-quarters; and it consists in combining with a crimped back-piece or backquarter of a shoe (or boot) a crimp-staying piece and rows of stitchings.

The object of this invention is to combine with a crimped back-piece or a crimped backquarter of a shoe (or boot) a staying-piece and stitchings, which together operate to hold the leather of the crimped back or back-quarter to its original crimped form with which it was made. I attain this object by themeans illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a shoe (or a boot) embodying the improvements in this invention. Fig. 2 is a view of the same from above. Fig. 3 is an outside view of a crimped back-piece or back-quarter opened out and showing the stay-stitchings and indicating by dotted lines the staying-piece secured by the said stitchings to said back-piece. Fig. i is a view of the inner side of the crimped back-piece or back-quarterstay-piece and the stitchings. Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken at line y g in Fig. Fig. 6 is a sectional view illustrating a crimp-staying piece made from two pieces joined together by stitching.

The same letters of reference refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

In the drawings, A represents a shoe (or a boot)l1aving a crimped back piece or quarter a. This back piece or quarter may be made of any suitable leather and can be crimped by any suitable means to produce the hollow or concave portion B at the back of the top portion just above the heel, as is generally given to high shoes, (or boots.)

0 is the crimp-staying piece, which can be made of any suitable firm leather or other material. This staying-piece C is made with any suitable oblong form and with a width,

Serial No. 361.131. (No model.)

extended vertically, preferably a little greater than the length or extension, in a vertical direction, of the concave portion B, and with a length preferably about twice that of the width of said staying-piece, and it can be made of two pieces of leather joined together by stitchings, as in Fig. 6, or of a single piece, as shown in Figs. 4: and 5, and the opposite end portions thereof are preferably made to taper from the middle portion, as they are extended outwardly from the latter, as shown. This crimp-staying piece 0 is secured to the back piece or quarter a, and at the concave or crimped portion 13 of the same by rows of stitchin s applied in such a manner that (besides fastening the said staying-piece in place with the said back piece or quarter) these stitchings will hold the leather of the quarteror back-piece a and stayingpiece 0 from being drawn out from their respective original conditions of form or shape. For this purpose I secure this stay-piece to the back-quarter a by rows 8 of stitchings run in vertical lines, which are preferably curved, as shown, and are at short distance apart and away from the middle of the back of said piece a and at the crimped or concave portions B of said piece, as shown. I also further secure and hold the two pieces a and 0 together and to their respective original conditions of shape or form of rows .9 s of stitchings, which are run relatively in horizontal directions from the respective vertical rows 8 s of stitchings outwardly toward the ends of the stayingpiece 0. These rows of stitchings s s can be made straight or curved or in the form of compound curved lines. They commence at ashort distance fromthe middle of the crimped portion B and at the sides of the same and are run in opposite directions on the sides of the back-quarter and toward the forward portions a a of the same, as shown, and they operate to hold the side portions of both the backquarter a. and the staying-piece G from being changed or drawn out from their original forms in the use of the shoe by the wearer. WVhen this crimp-staying piece 0 is made of two pieces, they can be joined by stitchings s in a line opposite the line of middle of the crimped back-quarter a; yet I prefer to make the said staying-piece of a single piece, as

shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5. lhis crimpstaying piece 0 (which is flat) in being socured to the back-quarter a is laid against the inside surface of the latter when it (the said baclequarter) is slightly bent or bowed, and with its crimped portion at a short distance from the plain or fiat portion of the staying-piece C, so that the latter will intervene between the foot of the wearer and the crimped portion B of the back-quarter and receive the strain in part, and with the stitchings s s ands 8 hold the crimped portion B of the back-quarter to its original form in all the time of the use of the shoe by its wearer. This crimp-staying piece can be applied to all classes of shoes (or boots) having concave or crimped backs, and allows manufacturers to employ the back-quarters or tops of backs of shoes (or boots) which are made of a single piece and crimped in form, and obviates the necessity of forming the back-quarters of two or more pieces and the expense of closingthe same and securing them by baclestays or other devices heretofore employed.

Having described my invention what I In a shoe or boot, the combination, with the back piece or quarter a, composed of a'single piece and crimped in form at L, of the crimpstaying piece 0, applied to the inner side of said back-piece and having its portion at the middle of its length out of close contact with the concave inside surface of the crimped por tion of said back-piece, and the vertical rows 3 s of stitchings,,nniting'the two pieces at lines off from the middle of the bend of said crimped back, and the horizontal rows 8 s of stitchings, securing the lateral side portions of the said crimp-staying piece closely with the side portions of said crimped backpiece, While its middle portion is out of contact at the bow of the crimped or concave portion B, substantially and for the purposes set forth.

GEORGE L. SHEPARD.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM FIEDLER, JOHN W. LE ROY. 

